Winchester schools to cut staff after $600,000 shortfall, superintendent says

Winchester City Public Schools Superintendent Jason told the board at its May 20 meeting that the city council’s recent budget left the district "$600,000 short," and said the district will reduce "up to 10 teaching positions" and several teacher assistant positions for the 2026–27 school year.

The superintendent said he has already begun conversations with principals about where reductions will be made and that the board will formally address staffing decisions in June. "We’ll be doing the same job with less people next year," he said, warning that the cuts will mean higher class sizes and "less support for our students and teachers." The superintendent framed the announcement as an early public notice of the expected personnel reductions.

Members of the Special Education Advisory Committee raised concerns about how the reductions will affect students with disabilities. Michelle Wingard, chair of RCEC and a SEAC presenter, told the board the committee has been informed that special education will lose two teaching assistant positions as a direct result of the funding gap and urged the board to consider the impact on vulnerable students.

Dr. Mullins, who presented the SEAC report and youth-ambassador recognitions, said the committee has been working to sustain programs that promote self-advocacy for students with disabilities and described family empowerment sessions held this year; he and SEAC members said the planned reductions will complicate that work.

The board did not take a staffing vote during the public session; later in the meeting members moved to convene a closed session to discuss personnel matters and the superintendent’s contract under the cited section of the Code of Virginia. The superintendent said the board will address staffing "formally as a board in June."